Trump gag order partially upheld in Jan. 6 case : NPR

Former President Donald Trump departs for a break during a civil fraud trial in New York City on Thursday.

Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

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Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump departs for a break during a civil fraud trial in New York City on Thursday.

Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

A federal appeals court panel has preserved most of a gag order on former President Donald Trump in his federal election interference case in Washington, D.C. The three-judge panel concluded some of Trump’s remarks “pose a significant and imminent threat to the orderly adjudication” of justice but said the lower court judge’s gag order swept in too much speech protected by the First Amendment.

The appeals court ruling would allow Trump to make public statements about the special counsel in the case, Jack Smith, but not other prosecutors, court staffers or their family members — if those remarks are designed to interfere with lawyers or court staff’s work on the four-count felony case against Trump.